make your own fire cider.

November 5, 2012

As the weather takes a turn for the chillier side of things, it’s nice to have a little something firey to warm things up and ward off germs. When I’m feeling under the weather, I like having natural cold remedies to rely on. All the better if I’ve made them myself. Rosemary Gladstar’s fire cider has been a pantry staple for herbalists for years and I first learned to make it last year when I was still working at the farm. It was a cold-weather savior around this tiny apartment last winter, and we’re hoping for a repeat this year.

The concoction packs an impressive punch and just preparing these hard-working ingredients will do wonders to clear your sinuses. Honestly, prepare yourself for some tears. You can change the exact proportions of ingredients depending on your personal taste, but I used these ingredients and proportions:

1 part chopped onion

1 part grated horseradish root (fresh is better, even if it takes searching a few markets to find it)

After a month (or so) of letting everything sit pretty, strain (and discard!) all the herbs and add a few tablespoons of honey–enough to make the cider just a little bit sweet.

Once it’s steeped and strained, you can sip the stuff by the spoonful as a tonic to support immune function and ease winter cold symptoms.* When you need something a little smoother, mix it up with a bit of warm water and extra honey for a spicy tea. If you’re feeling adventurous, throw a dash or two on your braising greens for a spicy treat.

*Suffice to say, I’m no doctor and I’m not making any claims to the contrary, but I do hope you’ll consider making a little remedy of your own!

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29 Comments

This is brilliant! I will definitely be making this soon! Especially since I'm coming down with a cold myself. I'll be enjoying a couple cups of spicy tea in December 🙂 Thank you so much for the lovely post!

I am SO excited to try this recipe. I discovered Fire Cider a few weeks back at the Union Square Farmer's Market and absolutely loved it. I think they will make lovely (and useful) winter gifts. Thank you for sharing.

Oh my goodness! I love this. How have I never heard of fire cider before? I feel like this is such a great gift for friends and neighbors who live in cold climates like us. I'm totally making a MASSIVE batch on my next day off and will bottle it for gifts. Is that weird? Maybe I'll gift this and a jar of homemade salted caramel to balance things out. Thanks, Erin, for the great idea! Hope you're well. Glad to hear you stayed safe through the storm. Thinking of you.

I just made a jar up today to get me through this wet San Francisco winter. This was such a lovely reminder- every November I try to stock up on all the necessities for life's sniffles- frozen mirepoix and chicken stock for soup, hot toddy ingredients, elderberry-rose hip-echinacea cough syrup, and a goldenseal-echinacea tincture to hopefully ward off the worst of it. I think this will join these as a annual tradition.

Also for those who have trouble finding horseradish root- I found mine tucked neatly in with the parsnips and fennel at Whole Foods. They might be a good place to check, though you'll most likely have to identify it to your checker.

We are asking people who believe in our collective herbal heritage and knowledge and who wish to help preserve our herbal traditions, to make a difference by helping to lift the trademark from Fire Cider.